Conductive channel of photovoltaic panel and method for manufacturing the same

ABSTRACT

An electrically conductive ribbon, which is soldered on an electrically conductive busbar of a photovoltaic panel, includes a cooper core and a tin based solder. The tin based solder fully wraps an outer surface of the cooper core, and has a convex solder surface, which has a first curvature to be fitted with a second curvature of a concave solder surface of the electrically conductive busbar.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to Taiwan Application Serial Number 99110417, filed Apr. 2, 2010, which is herein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of Invention

The present invention relates to a photovoltaic panel. More particularly, the present invention relates to an electrically conductive channel of a photovoltaic panel.

2. Description of Related Art

In recent years, awareness of ecological problems has been raised worldwide. Among other things, the global warming resulting from CO₂ emission is a serious concern, and clean energy has been increasingly desired. In such a circumstance, a solar cell shows great promise to serve as a source of clean energy in terms of its safety and operability.

The solar panel includes a photoelectric conversion layer for converting light into electricity, typical materials of which include single-crystal silicon semiconductor, polycrystalline silicon semiconductor, amorphous silicon-based semiconductor, groups III-V compound semiconductor, groups II-VI compound semiconductor and groups I-III-VI2 compound semiconductor.

In addition to the photoelectric conversion layer for converting light into electricity, the solar panel still needs a plurality of electrically conductive channels to collect electricity and output for external use or storing in a battery.

In order to reduce less energy consumption during electricity transporting, a contact resistance at a joint interface should be as low as possible, e.g. solder joint should be well soldered to enhance its bonding strength, so as to enhance a solar panel's operation efficiency and prolong its operation life.

SUMMARY

It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide an improved electrically conductive ribbon of a photovoltaic panel, thereby enhancing solder joint between the electrically conductive ribbon and busbar of the photovoltaic panel.

In accordance with the foregoing and other objectives of the present invention, an electrically conductive ribbon, which is soldered on an electrically conductive busbar of a photovoltaic panel, includes a cooper core and a tin based solder. The tin based solder fully wraps an outer surface of the cooper core, and has a convex solder surface, which has a first curvature to be fitted with a second curvature of a concave solder surface of the electrically conductive busbar.

According to an embodiment disclosed herein, the cooper core includes an outer surface to be conformal with the convex solder surface.

According to an embodiment disclosed herein, the cooper core includes a rectangular cross-section.

According to an embodiment disclosed herein, the electrically conductive ribbon further includes a convex reflective surface, the convex solder surface and the convex reflective surface are disposed at two opposite sides of the electrically conductive ribbon.

According to an embodiment disclosed herein, the tin based solder further includes silver or lead.

In accordance with the foregoing and other objectives of the present invention, a method for manufacturing a photovoltaic electrically conductive channel includes the following steps. An electrically conductive busbar is screen printed on a photovoltaic panel. A first curvature of a concave solder surface of the electrically conductive busbar is measured. An electrically conductive ribbon is manufactured to have a convex solder surface equipped with a second curvature to be fitted with the first curvature. The convex solder surface of the electrically conductive ribbon is soldered upon the concave solder surface of the electrically conductive busbar.

According to an embodiment disclosed herein, the electrically conductive busbar is a silver based paste.

According to an embodiment disclosed herein, the electrically conductive ribbon includes a cooper core and a tin based solder, wherein the tin based solder fully wraps an outer surface of the cooper core.

According to an embodiment disclosed herein, the cooper core includes an outer surface to be conformal with the convex solder surface.

According to an embodiment disclosed herein, the electrically conductive ribbon further includes a convex reflective surface, the convex solder surface and the convex reflective surface are disposed at two opposite sides of the electrically conductive ribbon, the convex reflective surface is a silver coated surface.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are by examples, and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings,

FIG. 1 illustrates a top view of a photovoltaic panel according to one preferred embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the photovoltaic panel illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates cross-sectional views of an electrically-conductive busbar and two electrically-conductive ribbons according to one preferred embodiment of this invention; and

FIG. 4 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a photovoltaic panel according to another preferred embodiment of this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the present preferred embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.

FIG. 1 illustrates a top view of a photovoltaic panel according to one preferred embodiment of this invention. Multiple electrically conductive channels are formed on the photovoltaic 100 by screen printing, so as to collect electric energy, generated by the photovoltaic array, by electrically conductive channels 103 a with a relatively small cross-section and to be transferred to an electrically conductive channel 102 with a relatively large cross-section, and then transferred out for external use or stored in a battery.

FIG. 2 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the photovoltaic panel illustrated in FIG. 1. The photovoltaic panel 100 includes a photovoltaic array 104, the electrically conductive channel 102, an upper substrate 101 a and a lower substrate 101 b. The electrically conductive channel 102 can be divided into two parts: an electrically conductive busbar 102 b, which is manufactured first, and an electrically conductive ribbon 102 a, which is manufactured later. The electrically conductive busbar 102 b is formed first by screen printing a silver based paste on the photovoltaic array 104. The electrically conductive channels 103 a (as illustrated in FIG. 1) are formed using the same way, i.e. by screen printing silver based pastes. After the electrically conductive busbar 102 b, i.e. the silver based paste, is cured after heating, the electrically conductive ribbon 102 a is then soldered upon the electrically conductive busbar 102 b. Because the silver based paste is liquid in its initial phase and manufactured by screen-printing, its cross-sectional profile would be formed with a “M” like shape. That is, the electrically conductive busbar 102 b has a top concave solder surface. When the electrically conductive ribbon 102 a has a flat solder surface, a soldered interface between the electrically conductive ribbon 102 a and electrically conductive busbar 102 b may not be good enough, e.g. poor soldering or bonding strength is weak. Therefore, a convex solder surface of the electrically conductive ribbon 102 a is formed to have a first curvature to be fitted with a second curvature of a concave solder surface of the electrically conductive busbar 102 b.

FIG. 3 illustrates cross-sectional views of an electrically conductive busbar and two electrically-conductive ribbons according to one preferred embodiment of this invention. In order to well solder the electrically conductive busbar and electrically conductive ribbon, a first curvature of the concave solder surface 106 c of the electrically conductive busbar 102 b can be measured first, and convex solder surfaces (106 a-106 b) of the electrically conductive ribbons (102 a ₁-102 a ₂) are accordingly manufactured to have a convex solder surface with a second curvature to be fitted with the first curvature of the concave solder surface 106 c of the electrically conductive busbar 102 b. The electrically conductive ribbon includes a cooper core and a tin based solder, and the tin based solder fully wraps an outer surface of the cooper core. The electrically conductive ribbon can be manufactured by several different ways. Take the electrically conductive ribbon 102 a ₁ for example, the cooper core 105 a is accordingly manufactured to have a convex surface with a second curvature to be fitted with the first curvature of the concave solder surface 106 c of the electrically conductive busbar 102 b, and the tin based solder 105 c then fully and uniformly wraps an outer surface of the cooper core 105 a. Therefore, the cooper core 105 a and tin based solder 105 c share a conformal profile, namely, the convex solder surface 106 b of the tin based solder 105 c is also fitted with the concave solder surface 106 c. Take an electrically conductive ribbon 102 a ₂ for another example, a cooper core 105 b is first formed with a rectangular cross-section, a tin based solder 105 d is then formed to fully wrap the cooper core 105 b and to form a convex solder surface 106 a with a second curvature to be fitted with the first curvature of the concave solder surface 106 c. The above-mentioned two ways are for manufacturing a convex solder surface of the electrically conductive ribbon to have a fitted curvature. In this embodiment, the tin based solder may be made by adding extra silver or lead, e.g. silver is added to enhance electrical conductivity and lead is added to lower a melting point of the composite solder.

FIG. 4 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a photovoltaic panel according to another preferred embodiment of this invention. Although the electrically conductive only shield or reflect partial light, which penetrates through the substrate 101 a, the electrically conductive ribbon 102 a ₃ is formed to have a convex reflective surface 106 d, e.g. a silver coated surface or a high reflective surface, rather than a flat reflective surface. The convex reflective surface 106 d reflect most incident light into the photovoltaic array 104 (by two times reflecting as indicated by arrows) such that the photovoltaic array 104 can convert more light into electric energy. In this embodiment, the convex reflective surface 106 d and convex solder surface 106 e are located at two opposite sides of the electrically conductive ribbon 102 a ₃.

According to the above-discussed embodiment, the design and manufacturing method of the electrically conductive ribbon would enhance a soldered interface between the electrically conductive ribbon and electrically conductive busbar, thereby avoiding poor soldering or weak bonding strength. Besides, the convex reflective surface is designed to direct more incident light into the photovoltaic array such that the photovoltaic array can convert more light into electric energy.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An electrically conductive ribbon, which is soldered on an electrically conductive busbar of a photovoltaic panel, the electrically conductive ribbon comprising: a cooper core; and a tin based solder fully wrapping an outer surface of the cooper core, and having a convex solder surface, which has a first curvature to be fitted with a second curvature of a concave solder surface of the electrically conductive busbar, wherein the cooper core comprises an outer surface to be conformal with the convex solder surface.
 2. The electrically conductive ribbon of claim 1, wherein the cooper core comprises a rectangular cross-section.
 3. The electrically conductive ribbon of claim 1, further comprising a convex reflective surface, the convex solder surface and the convex reflective surface are disposed at two opposite sides of the electrically conductive ribbon.
 4. The electrically conductive ribbon of claim 1, wherein the tin based solder further comprises silver or lead. 